Right now the NHL and NHLPA are in the process of mediation and at ESPN.com, Craig Custance offers his help to get the mediators to find a middle ground for the two sides.

Custance says that the middle ground for Make Whole is fairly simple and should be around $290 to $300 million. The NHL is currently offering $211 million, likely to go down, while the NHLPA wants $393 million.

Custance thinks that limiting contracts to five years and having a salary variance is redundant so he thinks it would be smart to keep the variance but limit contracts to 8-10 years.

In regards to where the salary cap will end up, Larry Brooks writes in the NY Post that the NHLPA has proposed as system where the salary cap and salary floor would be 20% of the midpoint which would give more of a range than the expired CBA did.

The NHL reportedly is offering a midpoint of $52 million and the ceiling and floor either being $8 million form the mid-point or 10%, whichever is higher.

Andy Strickland writes at True Hockey that the owners are going to relent on contract issues as long as they “win” on back diving contracts. He adds that he believes there will be a season and that many players have lost respect for Brendan Shanahan who sits in on the meetings but doesn’t say anything.